Thursday, October 15, 2009

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

I used to keep a lot of my books, but now I rarely re-read anything, and because of this I have a hard time having them just sit around. I have about 15 boxes of books that I've read and no longer want, but I haven't bothered to sort through them since my last move 3 years ago.

I try to weed my shelves on a regular basis because I am always running out of room. Currently I have 3 bookshelves, double-stacked, full of unread books. There is no way that I will ever read all these, let alone all the books constantly arrive. And, since I have no more room in my house for more shelves all my books must fit on these shelves.

When I do weed out books I try to get rid of those that I won't read soon, or that I can easily get from the library. Usually this means about 10-15 books at a time that are sorted out. Most of these books get donated to the library just because I have an excess of credits at both Paperback Swap and Bookmooch.

That sounds like a lot of unread books! I always have a surplus of points on Book Mooch, too- but lately I've found new ways to use them- getting coloring and puzzle books for my daughter when we go on roadtrips- it's great!

About Me

I am a book lover and hoarder, and always seem to be lacking adequate shelf space for my collection. Besides books and blogging, I work full time, raise cattle and love watching football with my husband. I am also the proud mother of a beautiful little girl.

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